Terrorists make us lose sight of the real dangers

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Three people were killed when two homemade explosives went off at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, and a campus police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was fatally shot in the manhunt that followed. From left, the victims were Krystle Campbell, Sean Collier, Lingzi Lu and Martin Richard. Click through the gallery to see how the victims were honored and remembered in the weeks after the terror attack.

Hide Caption

1 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

People pause at the memorial site in Boston's Copley Square on April 30, 2013.

Hide Caption

2 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Running shoes were among the mementos left as a tribute to the bombing victims.

Hide Caption

3 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Boston showed its resilience and heart with signs of support for the bombing victims, including this cover from an issue of Boston magazine.

Hide Caption

4 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Law enforcement officials enter St. Patrick's Church prior to Collier's funeral in Stoneham, Massachusetts, on April 23, 2013.

Hide Caption

5 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

President Barack Obama observes a moment of silence in the White House Oval Office on April 22, 2013.

Hide Caption

6 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Staff members of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center gather inside a trauma room to observe a moment of silence on April 22, 2013.

Hide Caption

7 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

A Buddhist sits at a memorial near the marathon finish line during a moment of silence on April 22, 2013.

Hide Caption

8 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

One week after the bombings, people gather to observe a moment of silence in Copley Square.

Hide Caption

9 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Officials line Boylston Street as they observe a moment of silence near the marathon finish line on April 22, 2013.

Hide Caption

10 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

People take part in the moment of silence near the marathon finish line.

Hide Caption

11 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

State employees pause for a moment of silence on the steps of the Massachusetts State House.

Hide Caption

12 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Pallbearers carry Campbell's casket after a funeral service in Medford, Massachusetts, on April 22, 2013.

Hide Caption

13 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Mourners walk out of St. Joseph Catholic Church after Campbell's funeral service.

Hide Caption

14 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Nurse practitioner Maureen Quaranto, who treated victims of the bombings, wears her Boston Marathon jacket during Mass on April 21, 2013.

Flowers, running shoes and other items are left in memory of bombing victim Lingzi Lu.

Hide Caption

29 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Dennis Seidenberg of the Boston Bruins observes a moment of silence before the start of an NHL hockey game in Boston on April 17, 2013. It was the first sporting event held in the city after the bombings.

Hide Caption

30 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Danielle Cerroni writes a chalk message on the street near the marathon's finish line on April 17, 2013.

Hide Caption

31 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

A woman looks at memorials left at the scene of the attack.

Hide Caption

32 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

A crowd gathers at Boston's Garvey Park during a vigil for bombing victim Martin Richard on April 16, 2013.

Hide Caption

33 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

A woman uses her hand to keep wind from her candle during an interfaith service in Boston on April 16, 2013.

Hide Caption

34 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Mourners gather on the edge of the pond for a candlelight vigil in Boston on April 16, 2013.

Hide Caption

35 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Students from the Clifden Academy hold an American flag and candles during a vigil in Dorcester, Massachusetts, on April 16, 2013.

Hide Caption

36 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

People walk along the barricade at Boylston Street on April 16, 2013.

Hide Caption

37 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Mourners in Boston hug one another during a vigil for victims on April 16, 2013.

Hide Caption

38 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Five-time Boston Marathon runner Jose Sotolongo, center, reacts during a moment of silence in Miami on April 16, 2013.

Hide Caption

39 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

The New York Islanders and Florida Panthers stand for a moment of silence before an NHL hocky game in Uniondale, New York, on April 16, 2013.

Hide Caption

40 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Members of the Boston Red Sox observe a moment of silence before their Major League Baseball game in Cleveland on April 16, 2013.

Two young girls leave flowers on the steps outside the Boston home of 8-year-old bombing victim Martin Richard on April 16, 2013.

Hide Caption

43 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Traders at the New York Stock Exchange observe a moment of silence before the opening bell on April 16, 2013.

Hide Caption

44 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

The flag above the White House flies at half-staff on April 16, 2013.

Hide Caption

45 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

The Minnesota Twins stand during the national anthem before a baseball game in Minneapolis on April 15, 2013.

Hide Caption

46 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Obama makes a statement about the bombings on April 15, 2013.

Hide Caption

47 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Players and fans observe a moment of silence before an NBA game in Oakland, California, on Aprl 15, 2013.

Hide Caption

48 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

An American flag flies at half-staff at the Capitol building in Washington on April 15, 2013.

Hide Caption

49 of 50

Photos:Nation mourns Boston bombing victims

Hockey fans in Glendale, Arizona, pause for a moment of silence before a game on April 15, 2013.

Hide Caption

50 of 50

Story highlights

Our brains and bodies are wired to be overly sensitive to threats

We need to pay attention to dangers we didn't evolve to fear

Emotional reactions are normal, but we shouldn't change how we live

Humans evolved in a dangerous world.

Because of this, our brains and bodies are wired to be overly sensitive to threats. This phenomenon is often referred to as the "smoke alarm" principle, based on the idea that it is better to be awakened 10 times in the middle of the night by a false alarm than to sleep blissfully just once while your house burns down around you.

However, not all threats are created equal when it comes to activating "smoke alarm" pathways in the brain and body that evolved to help us cope with environmental dangers.

The sad paradox is, we grossly underestimate the danger of many new things in our environment that have not existed long enough to burn fear of them into our genes, while grossly overestimating the danger of other things in the modern world that, while far less dangerous, tap into ancient evolved terrors.

For instance, people have been running for at least a million years and have been gathering in groups to celebrate athletic prowess for least that long. People have been killing each other for far longer than that.

Dr. Charles Raison

So, sadly, the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombing could not be better designed to frighten the hell out of us. And as we all know from the aftermath of September 11, 2001, when we get scared enough, we are willing to do almost anything to reestablish a sense that we are safe -- even if this means giving up things we love.

Terrorists are experts at tapping into ancient terrors. They don't spend their efforts convincing us to drive faster, smoke cigarettes or eat more processed food, which are the real killers in the modern world.

No, they commit acts that frighten us so unrealistically that we as a society change our behavior in ways that are profoundly out of proportion to the actual risks involved.

JUST WATCHED

'I wanted to see you finish that thing'

MUST WATCH

While I certainly advocate reasonable caution, I also want to encourage us not to fall victim to the mismatch between our evolved, and overwhelming, emotional reaction to certain types of events and their actual risk in the modern world.

Terrorists appropriate this mismatch for their benefit. Getting smart about it is a way we can fight back.

A first step toward getting wiser about how we react to events like the Boston bombing is to recognize that we evolved to overreact to these types of dangers, and that therefore we should not immediately change how we live our lives based on these reactions.

Significant scientific evidence suggests that these types of reactions were far more adaptive in the past than they are now, because they more closely fit the realities of ancient environments than those of the modern world.

One way to see this more clearly is to consider dangers that we did not evolve to fear and so grossly underestimate.

Consider, for example, that prior to the 19th century, no human traveled faster than the speed a horse can gallop (30 miles an hour) unless he or she was falling from a height. This explains why most of us fear flying far more than driving, even though driving is far more dangerous. Genes for fearing heights promoted survival over millions of years. Genes for fearing speed were worthless.

Hence, our very different attitude toward highway deaths than airplane crashes or terrorist bombings. Indeed, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) celebrated a bit in 2012 when 9,878 people died in alcohol-related traffic accidents the previous year; it was the first time in the organization's existence the number had fallen below 10,000.

We can keep ourselves and others safe by calling police if we see something suspicious at an event.

But if we give up marathons, celebrations, parades and other events without metal detectors and police dogs, we will have lost far more than we will have won, for we will have done precious little to increase the safety of average citizens while at the same time depriving them of one of a free society's greatest gifts.